For the efficient recycling of products, it is generally necessary for the various components of those products to be separated from each other. That separation operation can be effected by suitable reversal of the assembly technology used in production of said products. Such a procedure however is very time-consuming and consequently inefficient. On the other hand, when dealing with products or components of products which are to be fed to a material recycling operation, at least partial destruction of the products or components does not have an adverse effect on the recycling quality so that it is possible to have recourse to destructive processes when dismantling products in order to increase the degree of flexibility and to improve the level of effectiveness.
For the purposes of separating components or structural parts or for the purposes of releasing mechanical connections, suitable forces must be applied to the corresponding components or products in a highly flexible, rapid and effective manner. That gives rise to problems in particular when suitable engagement surfaces for applying those separating forces are not available. Particularly when dealing with components that adjoin each other in flush and snug relationship, with complex separating joins, the application of suitable separation forces for dismantling purposes often gives rise to serious problems.
Hitherto for example chisels or bits have been used in order to apply suitable separating or wedging forces between product components or mutually adjoining constituent parts of products. Such chisels or bits however only have a relatively short effective travel, due to the principle on which they operate, so that generally further working steps are required for complete separation of components. In addition the use of chisels or bits requires components which are suitable for transmitting the necessary separating forces. For example the use of a chisel or bit gives rise to problems in dismantling plastic casings if the edges of the parts of the casing are not capable of transmitting the separating or dividing forces produced by the chisel or bit. When dismantling smooth plastic casings of that kind, it repeatedly happens that the casing fractures and the chisel or bit breaks away, which is an undesirable phenomenon that inter alia represents a risk of injury.
Instead of chisels or bits, use is often made of screwdrivers or crowbars in order to provide for the corresponding dismantling effect. Such tools are also only suitable for a limited function, that is to say in this case also further working steps may be necessary in order to dismantle the corresponding products.
An apparatus which utilises a wedge effect to split wood is known for example from EP 0 260 184 A1. That known apparatus has a wedging tool provided with two spreading limb elements which are mounted on the wedge element pivotably in opposite directions. When the wedge element is driven into the wood to be split, those spreading elements pass into the corresponding gap formed by the split and then further spread the wood apart. A similar wood splitting apparatus is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,163. That known apparatus has a head part and at least two spreading elements which are movably connected to the head part so that a force applied to the head part or a pulse applied to the head part is respectively converted in the spreading elements into a component which is directed in the same direction as the applied force or the applied pulse, and a force component which is perpendicular thereto and which moves the parts to be separated away from each other. In that known tool which is only suitable and intended for splitting wood and not quite generally for separating parts which are connected together, the spreading elements are formed by rigid levers provided at their front ends with angle elements. In that structure, a splitting wedge on which the spreading members are pivotably disposed serves in known manner to split a piece of wood.
A hatchet or ax with lateral spreading elements is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,360. That known hatchet or ax therefore utilises a similar spreading principle to above-mentioned EP 0 260 184 A1 or U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,163.